Rumor: Trading Duncan Keith only the first part of a much bigger plan from the Blackhawks.

This week a strange rumor surfaced that suggested veteran Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith had made a request that he be traded by the Blackhawks. Keith has since been tied to the Edmonton Oilers due to the fact that his motivation for requesting trade is believed to be a desire to be closer to his son who resides in British Columbia, Canada and it sounds like there is mutual interest on the part of both the Blackhawks and the Oilers to make a deal here.

On Saturday however National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that the deal with Edmonton was perhaps just the first part of a much bigger plan from the Blackhawks' organization, one that would involve uniting a pair of brothers on the blue line together in the NHL. Friedman revealed that he has heard the Blackhawks are targeting Oilers defenseman Caleb Jones as part of this trade deal, and more importantly they are doing so as a means by which to entice Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones, Caleb's brother, to come to Chicago.

"Chicago's whole plan for this is to create the room to go get a Seth Jones or a Dougie Hamilton so they don't want eat a lot of it or take money back that is gonna ruin that plan," said Friedman on his most recent podcast. "I think everybody believes that Chicago's saying 'We want Caleb Jones in this deal' so that it can help entice Seth to unite with his brother."

"I have heard, although I haven't spoken to Seth Jones directly about it, I have heard that Chicago is one of the cities and teams that intrigues him" added Friedman.

It would appear as though the Blackhawks are looking to clear a significant portion of Keith's cap hit of $5.538 million off their books in order to make room for a player like Seth Jones on a new longer term deal, however I wonder what the return would need to be in order to entice the Oilers into taking Keith on in his current state at the full cap hit. Caleb Jones going back the other way would barely put a dent in that number considering he has just a single year remaining on his deal at a cap hit of just $850,000, and I would expect the Oilers will be seeking significant compensation to absorb that big of a hit for the Blackhawks.

Friedman added that although he is relatively confident that this deal will get done, it is not guaranteed by any means just yet.

"I will tell you this, I've had some people tell me they do think its most likely that Keith ends up in Edmonton but there are some hurdles that have to get done and it's not a guarantee," said Friedman.

Stay tuned for more on this one as it sounds like it could happen at any moment.